Things are getting very weird for Daemon Targaryen<\/a> (Matt Smith) in House of the Dragon<\/a> season 2 episode 4.<\/p>\n After arriving at Harrenhal in episode 3, Daemon\u2019s mental state has been devolving, leading him to see visions of a young Rhaenyra Targaryen (played by the returning Milly Alcock<\/a>) and now his late second wife, Laena Velaryon<\/a> (played by Nanna Blondell).<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the rest of the Blacks have heard nothing from him \u2013 although at King\u2019s Landing, Larys Strong<\/a> (Matthew Needham) seems to know exactly what effect Harrenhal would have on Daemon. So what is happening to him?<\/p>\n In season 2 episode 4, we see Daemon being driven mad as he\u2019s faced with his past and visions of the people he\u2019s wronged.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n He appears to be reeling with guilt following the murder of young Jaehaerys Targaryen and is being taunted by visions of a young Rhaenyra \u2013 the girl who \u201cstole\u201d his claim to the throne.<\/p>\n A few notable oddities happen to Daemon in episode 4 including:<\/p>\n The beginning of the episode sees Daemon have another vision of Rhaenyra, this time sat on the Iron Throne with a crown placed on her head. He hears her speak High Valyrian, the language they would speak together, but cannot understand her.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n He finally understands her say: \u201cYou created me, Daemon. Yet you are set on destroying me. All because your brother loved me more than he did you.\u201d In a furious moment, Daemon cuts off the head of the vision of Rhaneyra, but she continues to speak to him, saying: \u201cThis is what you\u2019ve always wanted, is it not?\u201d<\/p>\n Her voice then merges with that of Ser Simon Strong\u2019s as they both say: \u201cThere\u2019s been a raven.\u201d Daemon wakes up, suggesting he was just dreaming \u2013 except for the flash of blood on his hand, which then disappears.<\/p>\n Showrunner Ryan Condal previously told EW<\/a> of Alcock\u2019s return as Rhanaeyra: \u201cInstead of warfare or dragons or images of horror, it was really more of him being haunted by these people who he had done wrong by in his past, particularly young Rhaenyra.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the girl who took his claim, not elder Rhaenyra, played by Emma D\u2019Arcy. It\u2019s that version of Rhaenyra that removed him as the heir to the throne, and then was named heir and took his claim.<\/p>\n \u201cAs you\u2019ll see his story at Harrenhal unfold, there is an element of Daemon having to reckon with his past and choices that he\u2019s made and things that he\u2019s done.\u201d<\/p>\n Waking up in the night, Daemon then hears noises, leading him to Alys Rivers (Gayle Rankin). While some believe her to be a mere healer, others claim she\u2019s a wood witch and dabbled in the supernatural, utilising this to hide her true advanced age.<\/p>\n Daemon speaks with Alys about the Harrenhal curse \u2013 while he\u2019s sceptical, he notices Alys has strange knowledge of his life, including his quarrel with Rhaenyra. However, she explains this away by noting that he\u2019s sent no ravens home while he\u2019s been at Harrenhal. She goes on to taunt Daemon about Rhaenyra taking away his claim to the throne.<\/p> Alys then gives Daemon a drink, which seemingly pulls him back to reality, where he\u2019s conducting a meeting with Ser Willem Blackwood. So was that conversation with Alys just a vision too, or real?<\/p>\n Daemon\u2019s not quite back to reality though, as he then sees a vision of his late second wife Laena pouring the wine.<\/p>\n Laena, the mother of Baela and Rhaena, died during her third pregnancy. After Daemon was told it may be possible to save the baby if Laena was to have a caesarian section, she decided to be in control of her own death, ordering Vhagar to burn her alive. Daemon witnessed his wife\u2019s death.<\/p>\n Showrunner Condal previously told RadioTimes.com<\/a> that he \u201cwarned\u201d Smith about this storyline, saying: \u201cI warned him early on, \u2018You did such a great job in season 1, now we\u2019re gonna throw a lot at you and really challenge your range as an actor, and also what makes Daemon as a character.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cI think Daemon is the character a lot of people hook into with this series, because it\u2019s the sort of stereotypical heroic male lead. And we wanted to kind of turn that on its ear, beginning with episode 1 of season 1 and carrying all the way through the rest of his arc through the series.\u201d<\/p>\n Alys Rivers explains the curse during the episode when she says: \u201cHarrenhal\u2019s been cursed since its first stone was laid. Black Harren felled the grove of weirwood trees that grew on these lands. Heart trees imbued with the spirits of those who lived long before he came. It\u2019s said their whispers can still be heard sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n The curse of Harrenhal has been seen a few different times throughout the book series, especially.<\/p>\n Following Aegon\u2019s conquest, the Conqueror granted Harrenhal to various different houses \u2013 all of which died out. In George RR Martin\u2019s A Song of Ice and Fire books, we also see the \u201ccurse\u201d of Harrenhal take effect, with almost every castellan of the castle dying (Roose Bolton being the exception, perhaps because he voluntarily withdrew from the castle).<\/p>\n During season 2 episode 4, Larys, meanwhile, suggests Daemon will be driven mad by Harrenhal but uses a more logical reason. Larys still controls the gold, so suggests Daemon\u2019s resolve will be wiped out as he tries and fails to make use of the gigantic castle.<\/p>\n He references this when he tells Aegon: \u201cThat castle is more crippled than I am, Your Grace. It\u2019s like to drive Daemon to madness as he attempts to make use of it, it\u2019s beyond his faculties\u2026as Harrenhal saps Daemon\u2019s resolve, the false queen remains trapped on that island.\u201d<\/p>\n House of the Dragon continues on Sky Atlantic and NOW.<\/strong><\/p>\n Check out more of our\u00a0Fantasy<\/a>\u00a0coverage or visit our\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>\u00a0to find out what\u2019s on.\u00a0<\/strong>For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Is Matt Smith’s character losing his mind? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":54489,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/whats-happening-to-daemon-in-house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-4-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/whats-happening-to-daemon-in-house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-4-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/whats-happening-to-daemon-in-house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-4-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/whats-happening-to-daemon-in-house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-4-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/whats-happening-to-daemon-in-house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-4-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/whats-happening-to-daemon-in-house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-4-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2024\/07\/whats-happening-to-daemon-in-house-of-the-dragon-season-2-episode-4-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Is Matt Smith's character losing his mind?","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/54488"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What is happening to Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon season 2 episode 4<\/h2>\n
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